According to information from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, initial claims for unemployment during March jumped 17.8 percent in the state’s central region.

That’s a bigger percentage increase than any of the other 12 regions and a greater number of claims (2,073) than any region except the seven-county Twin Cities metro (9,271). Seven other regions experienced a year-over-year decline in initial applications for unemployment insurance..

The hardest-hit sector was manufacturing, which had 727 initial claims last month. A year earlier, there were 363.

Statewide, there were 20,112 initial claims – an increase of 1.2 percent year over year. Construction and professional and technical services were the areas of trouble for Minnesota as a whole. Statewide, manufacturing actually reduced its initial claims to 2,708 from 2,881 in March of 2013.

Workers filing for unemployment last month were increasingly from minority groups. The percentage of black initial claimants was up more than 270 percent compared to the same period in 2013 – 156 claimants compared to 42 a year earlier. Those identifying as Asian jumped 300 percent year over year – 88 compared with 22.

White claimants (1,687) made up the vast majority of those seeking unemployment for the first time in March. The number of newly unemployed white people was up 7 percent year over year.

The central region includes Benton, Sherburne, Stearns and Wright counties. Stearns experienced a 44.5 percent jump in initial claims for unemployment during March.

During February, there were 1,676 initial claims – exactly the same total as in February 2013. During January, there were 2,457 initial claims.

The last time there was a greater year-over-year percentage increase in initial claims was October 2012.